Many localization services determine a geographic location of a mobile device by utilizing a global positioning system (GPS), cellular-based localization techniques, and/or wireless access point-based localization techniques. When utilizing GPS, the mobile device receives information from one or more satellites and determines the location based on the received information. When utilizing cellular-based or wireless access point-based techniques, the mobile device receives identification information from one or more communication points (e.g., a cellular base station, Wi-Fi® access point, or Bluetooth® access point), and queries an online service with the identification information to resolve the location.
These approaches suffer from low energy efficiency, long startups delays, low location accuracy, and/or coverage dependency, which adversely affect the localization services and mobile device. For example, GPS suffers from long startup delays, due to a time required to connect with satellites, and consumes a significant amount of energy, which may lead to untimely location information and inefficient use of battery life of the mobile device. GPS also suffers from providing inaccurate location information when the mobile device is in proximity to buildings, commonly referred to as “the canyon effect.”
Meanwhile, cellular-based and wireless access point-based localization techniques are coverage dependent and provide low location accuracy, which may lead to unreliable and inaccurate location information. In addition, cellular-based and wireless access point-based localization techniques consume a significant amount of energy to communicate with an online service to resolve the location. These techniques may also provide delayed location information when a network (e.g., cellular network, wireless network, etc.) exhibits poor communication conditions.
There is an increasing opportunity to determine a location of a mobile device in an energy efficient, accurate, and timely manner.